Handheld electronic device having selectable language indicator for language selection and method therefor

ABSTRACT

A method of enabling the selection of a language to be employed as a method input language by a disambiguation routine of a handheld electronic device having stored therein a plurality of method input languages and disambiguation routine number, includes detecting a selection of a language, detecting as an ambiguous input an actuation of one or more input members, outputting at least a plurality of the language objects that corresponds to the ambiguous input, outputting an indicator which one of the method input languages is currently employed by the disambiguation function, and enabling an alternate one of the input language methods to be selected in response to a selection of the indicator in lieu of one of the plurality of language objects.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The disclosed and claimed concept relates generally to electronicdevices and, more particularly, to a method for indicating and selectinga language on a handheld electronic device.

2. Description of the Related Art

Numerous types of handheld electronic devices are known. Examples ofsuch handheld devices include, for instance, personal data assistants(PDAs), handheld computers, two-way pagers, cellular telephones, and thelike. Many handheld electronic devices also feature wirelesscommunication capability, although many such handheld devices arestand-alone devices that are functional without communication with otherdevices.

Handheld electronic devices are used in a variety of language settingsand users can often find themselves writing text in multiple languages.For example, a user might reply to one e-mail message in French andanother in English. However, in order to utilize a handheld electronicdevice's advance features, such as disambiguation, the user might haveto select the language that, for example, corresponds to the language ofthe original message to which he/she is replying. Switching amongmultiple languages can often confuse the user since the user mightbelieve that the currently selected language on the handheld electronicdevice is one language, but in reality the operative language is anotherlanguage. Therefore, incorrectly believing that the currently selectedlanguage is the desired language, the user might unwittingly begin toenter input which corresponds to the desired language, fully expectingthe disambiguation function of the handheld electronic device tocorrectly disambiguate any ambiguous inputs that the user enters.However, since the currently selected language is the incorrectlanguage, the handheld electronic device will disambiguate the ambiguousinputs based on the other language. Assuming that the user realizes thatthe currently selected language on the handheld electronic device is notthe desired language prior to completing the data entry, the stepsrequired to rectify the situation (e.g. select the correct language andcorrect any incorrect data) will consume time. It would be desirable toovercome this shortcoming in an efficient fashion that makes the deviceeasier to use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A full understanding of the disclosed and claimed concept can be gainedfrom the following Description when read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an improved handheld electronic device inaccordance with the disclosed and claimed concept;

FIG. 2 is a schematic depiction of the improved handheld electronicdevice of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a depiction of an output that can be displayed on an outputapparatus of the improved handheld electronic device;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting an embodiment of an improved method inaccordance with the disclosed and claimed concept;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting another embodiment of an improved methodin accordance with the disclosed and claimed concept; and

FIG. 6 depicts an input mode indicator on the display.

DESCRIPTION

The accompanying figures and the description that follows set forth thedisclosed and claimed concept in its preferred embodiments. It is,however, contemplated that persons generally familiar with handheldelectronic devices will be able to apply the novel characteristics ofthe structures and methods illustrated and described herein in othercontexts by modification of certain details. Accordingly, the figuresand description are not to be taken as restrictive on the scope of thedisclosed and claimed concept, but are to be understood as broad andgeneral teachings.

When referring to the term “language object” and variations thereof,such designations shall refer broadly to any type of object that may beconstructed, identified, or otherwise obtained from one or morelinguistic elements, that can be used alone or in combination togenerate text, and that would include, for example and withoutlimitation, words, shortcuts, symbols, ideograms, and the like.

When referring to the term “linguistic element” and variations thereof,such designations shall refer broadly to any element that itself can bea language object or from which a language object can be constructed,identified, or otherwise obtained, and thus would include, but not belimited to, characters, letters, strokes, symbols, ideograms, phonemes,morphemes, digits (numbers), and the like.

When referring to the term “letter” and variations thereof, suchdesignations are meant to cover all letters of the Latin alphabetregardless of whether the letter is uppercase (Majuscule form) orlowercase (Minuscule form).

When referring to the term “reduced” and variations thereof in thecontext of a keyboard, a keypad, or other arrangement of input members,such designations shall refer broadly to an arrangement in which atleast one of the input members has assigned thereto a plurality oflinguistic elements such as, for example, characters in the set of Latinletters.

When referring to the term “window” and variations thereof, suchdesignations by way of example, and not limitation, shall refer to avisualized layer, tile, overlay or other similar variant thereof that isoutput on a display or screen.

When referring to the phrase “default language” and variations thereof,such designations shall refer to the primary language of the handheldelectronic device.

For purposes of the description hereinafter, the terms “upper”, “lower”,“right”, “left”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “top”, “bottom”, andderivatives thereof shall relate to the disclosed and claimed concept asit is oriented in the figures.

An improved handheld electronic device 2 is indicated generally in FIG.1 and is depicted schematically in FIG. 2. The exemplary handheldelectronic device 2 includes a housing 4 upon which is disposed aprocessor unit that includes an input apparatus 6, an output apparatus8, a processor 10, and a memory 12. The processor 10 may be, forinstance, and without limitation, a microprocessor (μP) and isresponsive to inputs from the input apparatus 6 and provides outputsignals to the output apparatus 8. The processor 10 also interfaces withthe memory 12. The processor 10 and the memory 12 together form aprocessor apparatus.

As can be understood from FIG. 1, the input apparatus 6 includes akeypad 14 and a trackwheel 16. As will be described in greater detailbelow, the keypad 14 is in the exemplary form of a reduced QWERTYkeyboard including a plurality of keys 18 that serve as input members.It is noted, however, that the keypad 14 may be of other configurations,such as an AZERTY keyboard, a QWERTZ keyboard, or other keyboardarrangement, whether presently known or unknown, and either reduced ornot reduced.

The keys 18 are located on a front face 20 of the housing 4, and thetrackwheel 16 is located at a side 22 of the housing 4. In addition tothe keys 18, the trackwheel 16 can serve as another input member sincethe trackwheel 16 is capable of being rotated, as indicated by arrow 24,and depressed generally toward the housing 4, as indicated by arrow 26.Rotation of the trackwheel 16 provides certain inputs to the processor10, while depression of the trackwheel 16 provides other input to theprocessor 10.

The system architecture of the handheld electronic device 2advantageously is organized to be operable independent of the specificlayout of the keypad 14. Accordingly, the system architecture of thehandheld electronic device 2 can be employed in conjunction withvirtually any keypad layout without requiring any meaningful change inthe system architecture. It is further noted that certain features setforth herein are usable on either or both of a reduced keyboard and anon-reduced keyboard.

The memory 12 is depicted schematically in FIG. 2. The memory 12 can beany of a variety of types of internal and/or external storage media suchas, without limitation, RAM, ROM, EPROM(s), EEPROM(s), and the like thatprovide a storage register for data storage such as in the fashion of aninternal storage area of a computer, and can be volatile memory ornonvolatile memory. As can be seen from FIG. 2, the memory 12 is inelectronic communication with the processor 10.

The memory 12 additionally can include one or more routines depictedgenerally with the numeral 46 for the processing of data and carryingout other functions, including a user interface routine 47. Whenexecuted by the processor 10, the user interface routine 47, possibly incombination with another of the routines 46, causes the processor 10 toreceive inputs from the keypad 14, the trackwheel 16 and/or other inputdevices, and causes the processor 10 to present various forms of outputon the display 28 and/or other output devices, as will shortly beexplained. In other words, when sequences of instructions of the userinterface routine 47 are executed by the processor 10, a user of thehandheld electronic device 2 is provided with a way to interact with thehandheld electronic device 2. The routines 46 can be in any of a varietyof forms such as, without limitation, software, firmware, and the like.Additionally, the memory 12 can also store and make available a varietyof data sources 48 such as, without limitation, one or more input methodlanguages (i.e. “language” or “languages”) 50 having language objectsassociated therewith.

The input method languages 50 may also have corresponding linguisticsources 52 such as a generic word list or a language rule set. FIG. 2depicts the memory 12 as containing three input method languages 50. Thefirst input method language 54 can be English, the second input methodlanguage 56 can be French, and the third input method language 58 can beSpanish. It is noted, however, that despite FIG. 2 depicting only threeinput method languages 54, 56, 58 being stored within memory 12, thetotal number of input method languages 50 that can be stored in thememory 12 is limited only by the memory's 12 capacity. Once a userselects an input method language 50, the selected input method languagebecomes the operative input method language and the preferred datasource for the handheld electronic device 2. The preferred data sourceis utilized by the handheld electronic device 2 to disambiguate anyambiguous inputs that are entered into the handheld electronic device 2.It is noted, however, that an input method language can be a defaultoperative input method language, thus being operative without beingexpressly selected by a user.

Returning to FIG. 1, the output apparatus 8 includes a display 28 uponwhich can be provided an output 30. An exemplary output 30 on thedisplay 28 is depicted in FIG. 1. The output 30 includes a textcomponent 32 and a window (variant component) 34. As depicted in FIG. 1,the window 34 extends substantially horizontally across the display 28.This, however, is not meant to be limiting since the window 34 can alsoextend across the display 28 substantially vertically, as depicted inFIG. 4, or in other fashions. Preferably, the window 34 is locatedgenerally in the vicinity of the text component 32. The window 34includes a number of outputs 36 from which the user can select, and aselection box 38 that provides an indication of what is selectable atany given time, as will be explained. As depicted in FIG. 1, theselection box 38 is at a default position 39, thereby indicating that adefault one of the outputs 36 is currently selectable. As described inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/931,281 entitled “HandheldElectronic device with Text Disambiguation,” the outputs 36 are languageobjects selected from language objects stored in the memory 12 andproposed by the text disambiguation function as being the most likelydisambiguated interpretation of the ambiguous input provided by theuser.

As can also be seen in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, a visual indicator 60,indicating a preferred data source (e.g., grammatical rules and/orvocabulary of a language), is also provided in the window 34. In orderto facilitate the entry of text into the handheld electronic device 2and to prevent user confusion regarding the currently selected languageon the handheld electronic device 2, the visual indicator 60 enables auser to quickly identify what language is currently operative. In thisparticular embodiment, the visual indicator 60 is positionedsubstantially adjacent to a right end 62 of the window 34. It is noted,however, that the visual indicator 60 can also be positionedsubstantially adjacent to a left end 64 of the window 34 or in otherpositions, such as within the caret 44 or on another part of the display28.

The visual indicator 60 provides a visual identifier of a choice of alanguage to a user of the handheld electronic device 2. The visualindicator 60 may include one or more of first and second linguisticelements 66 and 68 that form an abbreviation specifying a particularlanguage as depicted in FIG. 1, an unabbreviated name 65 of a languageas depicted in FIG. 3, or a graphical symbol 69 representative of a flagor other symbol associated with a particular language as depicted inFIG. 4. The visual indicator 60 may be surrounded by a box 70 and/or maybe offset from the outputs 36 to prevent a user from mistakenlyidentifying the visual indicator 60 as an output 36. Furthermore, thebox 70 may be shaped or colored differently from the selection box 38.In the exemplary output depicted in FIG. 1, the visual indicator 60includes the letters “F” and “R” which is an abbreviation of “French,”along with a linguistic symbol 69 providing a representation of the flagof France. Accordingly, as depicted, the visual indicator 60 alerts theuser that French is the currently selected language on the handheldelectronic device 2.

The selection box 38 is capable of being moved (i.e. shifted) from thedefault position 39 to a number of different positions 40 by depressingor actuating a <NEXT> key 42 or by rotating the trackwheel 16. Thedisplay 28 also includes a caret (cursor) 44 that depicts generallywhere the next output will be displayed. As the selection box 38 ismoved through different ones of the different positions 40, differentones of the outputs 36 become selectable by depressing the trackwheel 16towards the housing 4, by pressing one of the keys 18 and/or byactuating some other form of input device (not shown) disposed on thehousing 4. Upon reaching the last of the outputs 36, the selection box38 can be moved beyond the last of the outputs 36 and to the visualindicator 60 such that the visual indicator 60 becomes selectable, andin a manner substantially similar to that by which each of the outputs36 may become selectable. In this way, the visual indicator 60 may beselected in lieu of one of the outputs 36. Furthermore, upon the visualindicator 60 becoming selectable, still further movement of theselection box 38 beyond the last of the outputs 36 and beyond the visualindicator 60 results in a “wrap-around” of the selection box 38 back tothe default position 39, in some embodiments. In alternate embodiments,the selection box 38 cannot be moved beyond the visual indicator 60.

Upon the visual indicator 60 both becoming selectable, a user of thehandheld electronic device 2 may select the visual indicator 60 byactuating the <NEXT> key 42, depressing the trackwheel 16 or actuatingsome other form of input device disposed on the housing 4. Selecting thevisual indicator 60 allows the user to change the currently selectedlanguage. In some embodiments, upon selection of the visual indicator60, the <NEXT> key 42, the trackwheel 16 and/or some other form of inputdevice disposed on the housing 4 may be used to change in place thecurrently selected language by changing whichever of the linguisticelements 66 and 68, the unabbreviated name 65 or the graphical symbol 69is currently displayed as part of the visual indicator 60. In otherembodiments, upon selection of the visual indicator 60, a popup window90 is presented that lists at least a subset of the choices of language96 that may be selected, as depicted in FIG. 4. The popup window 90 maypresent each choice of language 96 as one or both of a pair oflinguistic characters (not unlike the linguistic characters 66 and 68within the visual indicator 60) or a graphical symbol (not unlike thegraphical symbol 69 within the visual indicator 60). Alternatively oradditionally, the popup window 90 may present each choice of language 96as an unabbreviated name (not unlike the unabbreviated name 65 withinthe visual indicator 60). In still other embodiments, upon selection ofthe visual indicator 60, a language selection output 130 is presented onthe display 28 in which a language selection menu 190 is displayed, asdepicted in FIG. 5, in place of the window 34. As in the case of thepopup window 90, the language selection menu 190 may use one or more ofa pair of linguistic characters, an unabbreviated name and/or agraphical symbol to present each choice of language 196.

In some embodiments, as the selection box 38 is moved beyond the last ofthe outputs 36 and to the visual indicator 60, some form of tactileand/or audible feedback may be provided to a user of the handheldelectronic device 2 that coincides with the selection box 38 being movedbetween one of the outputs 36 and the visual indicator 60. Such tactileand/or audible feedback would alert the user to the fact that he or shehas progressed beyond the selection of available outputs 36 without theneed to view the display 28 at that moment. In one possible embodimentwhere either the trackwheel 16 or a trackball (not shown) is employed inmoving the selection box 38, a tactile feedback akin to a “bump” and/ora momentary resistance to movement may be provided that the user wouldfeel through which ever ones of his or her fingers are employed inoperating the trackwheel 16 or the trackball. Various trackwheels andtrackballs equipped with a mechanism for causing a translation motion ofthe wheel or ball in a direction against the user's fingertips arecommercially available as those skilled in the art will readilyrecognize. Such a trackwheel or trackball could be controlled in amanner that provides the user with a sensation that the wheel or ball isbeing “rolled” over a bump and/or that the wheel or ball is momentarily“stuck” at the moment that the selection box 38 is moved between one ofthe outputs 36 and the visual indicator 60.

It should be noted that although much of the preceding discussing hasspecified that the selection box 38 serves as the indication of whichitem in the window 34 is selectable, those skilled in the art willreadily recognize that other visual indicators of which item in thewindow 34 is selectable may be employed. By way of example, varioustechniques of highlighting a selectable item may be employed, including,but not limited to, altering one or more colors of the selectable item,itself, such that the selectable item is made to stand out in comparisonto one or more non-selectable items, or altering one or more colors ofthe background immediately adjacent to a selectable item such that theselectable item is surrounded with a distinguishing color.

In some embodiments, as an alternative to presenting an operativelanguage in a visual indicator as part of a window of selectable outputsas part of a disambiguation process, a visual indicator 260 may bepresented as part of an input mode indicator 284 presented on a portionof the display 28. As depicted in FIG. 6, the input mode indicator 284is positioned towards a corner of the display 28 so as to minimize itsobstruction of the remainder of the space available on the display 28for whatever use may be desired by a user of the handheld electronicdevice 2. The input mode indicator 284 includes a visual indicator 286that presents information regarding other aspects of the current inputmode, such whether a reduced-sized keyboard (e.g., the keypad 14) iscurrently in a numeric entry mode (as indicated with “123”), alower-case letter entry mode (as indicated with “abc”) or an upper-caseletter entry mode (as variously indicated with an upward arrow, oreither of “ABC” or “CAP”). As was the case with the earlier-discussedvisual indicator 60, the visual indicator 260 may present the currentchoice of language with an abbreviation (e.g., “EN” as depicted), agraphical symbol (e.g., a flag as depicted), or an unabbreviated name ofa language (not shown). In other words, the input mode indicator 284presents one of a selection of possible input modes that combine achoice of numeric or text entry, a choice of capitalization, and achoice of language in each input mode. FIG. 6 depicts some of theavailable input modes that may be selected.

The remainder of the space available on the display 28 may be employedby one or more of the routines 46, including the user interface routine47, to enable input of text or numbers by the user. Not unlike theearlier-described visual indicator 60, the input mode indicator 284 isselectable, though not as part of a list of selectable outputs generatedby a disambiguation routine. In some embodiments, a trackball or inputdevice (not shown) that is disposed on the housing 4 may be used to makethe input mode indicator 284 selectable by moving a focus of the userinterface routine 47 away from an application occupying the remainder ofthe space available on the display 28 and towards the input modeindicator 284. Upon the input mode indicator 284 being made selectable,and upon the input mode indicator 284 being selected, a different inputmode may be selected. In some embodiments, the selection of the inputmode indicator 284 results in an input mode selection menu not unlikethe earlier-described language selection menu 190 that occupies at leasta portion of the remainder of the space available on the display 28. Inother embodiments, the selection of the input mode indicator 284 resultsin the presentation of a smaller popup menu not unlike theearlier-described popup window 90. In still other embodiments, theselection of the input mode indicator 284 allows the user to change inplace the input mode indicator 284 (and with it, the associated inputmode), perhaps by operating the trackwheel 16 or other input device,such as a trackball.

While specific embodiments of the disclosed and claimed concept havebeen described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in theart that various modifications and alternatives to those details couldbe developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure.Accordingly, the particular arrangements disclosed are meant to beillustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of the disclosed andclaimed concept which is to be given the full breadth of the claimsappended and any and all equivalents thereof.

1-21. (canceled)
 22. A method of enabling input into a handheldelectronic device having an input apparatus, an output apparatus and aprocessor, the handheld electronic device of a type having availabletherein a plurality of input method languages and a text disambiguationfunction structured to employ an operative one of the plurality of theinput method languages, the input apparatus having a number of keys, themethod comprising: detecting as an ambiguous input a selection of atleast some of the one or more keys; employing an operative input methodlanguage to output a plurality of language objects that correspond withthe selection of the one or more keys; outputting at a location adjacentto the plurality of language objects an indicator specifying theoperative input method language being used by the text disambiguationfunction; enabling the indicator to be selected in lieu of one of theplurality of language objects; and upon the indicator being selected inlieu of one of the plurality of language objects, enabling a selectionof one of a plurality of alternate indicators adjacent to the indicatorspecifying an alternate operative input method, wherein the selection ofone of the plurality of alternate indicators is enabled while theselection of one or more keys is ongoing.
 23. The method of claim 22,further comprising outputting the plurality of language objects and theindicator as a visual output.
 24. The method of claim 23, furthercomprising outputting the plurality of language objects and theindicator disposed in a window on a display of the output apparatus. 25.The method of claim 24, further comprising outputting the plurality oflanguage objects towards a first end of the window and outputting theindicator towards a second end of the window opposite the first end. 26.The method of claim 22, further comprising outputting as the indicator aplurality of linguistic elements.
 27. The method of claim 26, furthercomprising outputting as the plurality of linguistic elements anabbreviation of a name of a language.
 28. The method of claim 22,further comprising outputting as at least a portion of the indicator agraphical symbol associated with a language.
 29. The method of claim 28,further comprising outputting as the graphical symbol a representationof a flag.
 30. The method of claim 22, further comprising' enabling aninput device to select from among the indicator and the plurality oflanguage objects.
 31. The method of claim 30, further comprisingenabling the indicator to be selected by scrolling through the pluralityof language objects to reach the indicator.
 32. The method of claim 31,further comprising providing a tactile feedback through the input devicein response to scrolling through the plurality of language objects andreaching the indicator.
 33. The method of claim 22, wherein the enablingthe indicator to be selected in lieu of one of the plurality of languageobjects includes: presenting a list of a plurality of alternateindicators comprising selectable operative input method languages; andpermitting selection of one of the selectable operative input methodlanguages from the list.
 34. A handheld electronic device, comprising:an input apparatus having a number of keys; a display; a processorapparatus comprising a processor and a memory in electroniccommunication with the processor, the memory having stored therein aplurality of input method languages and a text disambiguation functionstructured to employ one of the plurality of the input method languages,the processor apparatus being structured to: detect as an ambiguousinput a selection of at least some of the one or more keys; employ anoperative input method language to output a plurality of languageobjects that correspond with the selection of the one or more keys;output at a location adjacent to the plurality of language objects anindicator specifying the operative input method language being used bythe text disambiguation function; enable the indicator to be selected inlieu of one of the plurality of language objects; and upon the indicatorbeing selected in lieu of one of the plurality of language objects,enable a selection of one of a plurality of alternate indicatorsadjacent to the indicator specifying an alternate operative inputmethod, wherein the selection of one of the plurality of alternateindicators is enabled while the selection of one or more keys isongoing.
 35. The handheld electronic device of claim 34, wherein theoutput of the plurality of language objects and the indicator is avisual output.
 36. The handheld electronic device of claim 35, whereinthe output of the plurality of language objects and the indicator isdisposed in a window on the display.
 37. The handheld electronic deviceof claim 36, wherein the output of the plurality of language objects istowards a first end of the window and the output of the indicator istowards a second end of the window opposite the first end.
 38. Thehandheld electronic device of claim 34, wherein the indicator comprisesa plurality of linguistic elements.
 39. The handheld electronic deviceof claim 34, wherein the plurality of linguistic elements form anabbreviation of a name of a language.
 40. The handheld electronic deviceof claim 34, wherein the indicator comprises a graphical symbolassociated with a language.
 41. The handheld electronic device of claim40, wherein the graphical symbol is a representation of a flag.
 42. Thehandheld electronic device of claim 34, wherein the processor is furtherstructured to enabling the selection of the indicator by enablingscrolling through the plurality of language objects to reach theindicator.
 43. The handheld electronic device of claim 34, furthercomprising an input device structured to cooperate with the processor toenable scrolling through the plurality of language objects to reach theindicator, and wherein the input device is structured to provide atactile feedback in response to scrolling through the plurality oflanguage objects and reaching the indicator.